Tentative Inspection Program Would Allow Russia to Visit U.S. Nuclear Sites

The plan, which Fox News has learned was agreed to in principle during negotiations, would constitute the most intrusive weapons inspection program the U.S. has ever accepted.


















Tuesday, October 13, 2009


Russia and the United States have tentatively agreed to a weapons inspection program that would allow Russians to visit nuclear sites in America to count missiles and warheads.

The plan, which Fox News has learned was agreed to in principle during negotiations, would constitute the most intrusive weapons inspection program the U.S. has ever accepted.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said publicly Tuesday that the two nations have made "considerable" progress toward reaching agreement on a new strategic arms treaty.

The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires in December and negotiators have been racing to reach agreement on a successor.

Clinton said the U.S. would be as transparent as possible.

"We want to ensure that every question that the Russian military or Russian government asks is answered," she said, calling missile defense "another area for deep cooperation between our countries."

On another critical issue, Lavrov declared that it would be counterproductive to threaten Iran with more sanctions over its nuclear program -- as he resisted efforts by Clinton to win agreement for tougher measures should Iran fail to prove its program is peaceful.

Clinton visited Moscow on her first trip since becoming America's top diplomat, in an effort to gauge Moscow's willingness to join the U.S. in imposing sanctions.

Clinton said the U.S. agreed it was important to pursue diplomacy with Iran.

"At the same time that we are very vigorously pursuing this track, we are aware that we might not be as successful as we need to be, so we have always looked at the potential of sanctions in the event we are not successful and cannot assure ourselves and others that Iran has decided not to pursue nuclear weapons," she said at a joint news conference.

Iran insists it has the right to a full domestic nuclear enrichment program and maintains it is only for peaceful purposes, such as energy production.

President Obama -- who visited Russia in July -- has vowed to "reset" U.S.-Russia relations. On Tuesday, Clinton apologized for missing that meeting because of a broken elbow.

"But now both my elbow and our relationships are reset and we're moving forward, which I greatly welcome," she said.

She was to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev later Tuesday.

Fox News' Dana Lewis and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A Modern Day Founding Father?

Ron Paul sounds strikingly like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and other founding fathers. Don't believe me? Study American history and the words of the founders and you will quickly come to the same conclusion.

- Founders Nation

Ron Paul During a 2008 Republican Debate

He Doesn't Sound So Stupid Anymore...

Interesting Exchange between Business Owner and Govenor of Michigan

The EU Seeks a President

The Lisbon Treaty, once ratified, would for the first time create the office of President of the European Union.


(AP) President Tony Blair? Don't laugh, it could happen.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is seen in a July 24, 2007 file photo. Blair is considered a leading candidate for the newly-created post of president of the EU.

The former British prime minister may be coming back, this time in a presidential role. Two years after leaving Downing Street, Blair has emerged as a strong candidate for the soon-to-be-created post of European president.

The role - in effect, the president of the European Union - will be appointed by the heads of state of the 27-nation bloc after a new EU reform treaty is signed and ratified. That process received a major boost this weekend with approval from Irish voters.

The powers of the new position remain unspecified and to a large extent it will be defined by the first person in the role. A key question is whether that will be a largely unknown bureaucrat or a luminary like Blair.

There are already signs that Blair, 56, is receiving strong consideration, and he has the formal support of British leaders despite the long-standing rivalry between Blair and his taciturn successor, Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Robert Worcester, chairman of the Ipsos MORI polling firm in England, said Blair's unannounced candidacy will be helped by his popularity in the United States and in continental Europe even though his standing at home is low.

"He's very, very popular in the United States and very popular in Europe, but not at home," said Worcester. "At home, he hasn't been forgiven for his support of the war in Iraq, for his saying there were weapons of mass destruction."

The position could be created as early as this month, although EU officials have given no firm date.

The youthful, articulate Blair became prime minister after a landslide victory in 1997 and served 10 years before he stepped down to quell a Labour Party revolt. He has traveled the world ceaselessly since leaving office, taking on an official role in the Middle East peace process while also teaching in the United States and giving lucrative speeches.

Unlike other candidates for the post, who tend to be lesser known European bureaucrats, Blair enjoys worldwide name recognition and is on a first-name basis with many world leaders, enjoying a celebrity status that would likely confer immediate credibility on the new post.

But Blair's candidacy for the job - some British papers say his former chief of staff is working behind the scenes to muster support - could alienate Conservative Party leaders who expect to take power at Britain's next general election, which must be held by June next year.

They don't like the idea of Blair rising, one more time, even as they prepare to administer the coup de grace to Labour leadership, which has stalled badly under Brown.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, a Conservative stalwart, on Monday warned of a British backlash to the possible appointment of Blair.

He said many Britons would resent Blair "suddenly pupating into an intergalactic spokesman for Europe," without a public vote.

Other prospective presidential candidates are being considered as well, although they don't enjoy Blair's star status. Still, that may be preferable to European heads of state looking to appoint a figurehead who won't outshine them, or steal too much media attention.

Outgoing German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been mentioned, along with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, former Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and former Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen.

The new president will be selected during private conversations among the leaders of the 27 EU nations without any public review.

The Lisbon Treaty, designed to boost Europe's voice on the world stage as it competes with the United States, Russia and emerging powers like China and India, also creates a top foreign policy position.

Anand Menon, director of the European Research Institute at the University of Birmingham, said the new president is likely to clash with the foreign policy chief as they jockey for power in new positions with largely undefined powers.

"There seems to be a head of steam building up for Blair, but there is unease about him as well, because of Iraq, because of the euro, and because of his ambition, which some people see as a drawback," said Menon.

Some European leaders oppose Blair, Menon said, because he failed to make good on his early promise to bring Britain "into the heart of Europe" and did not adopt the European currency, the euro, or take actions to join other European Union institutions.

Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have drafted a profile of the next EU president and are circulating it around EU capitals. Diplomats say it calls for someone with the "stature of a head of state" who is an ardent proponent of increased European integration, who has a broad world view and will listen to all 27 nations - not just the big four.

Diplomats say Sweden, now holding the EU presidency, wants an early decision on the appointment of an EU president at the Oct. 29-30 EU summit in Brussels that Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will chair.

But that would only be possible if the Czech Constitutional Court has ruled on a complaint by some senators who want a review of the Lisbon treaty.

Officials: Fed will need to boost rates quickly

By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
On Tuesday September 29, 2009, 7:00 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- To prevent inflation from taking off, the Federal Reserve will need to start boosting interest rates quickly and aggressively once the economy is back on firmer footing, Fed officials warned Tuesday.

"I expect that when it comes time to tighten monetary policy, my colleagues and I will move with an alacrity that, if needed, will be equal in speed and intensity" to when the Fed was slashing rates to battle the recession and the financial crisis, said Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Although Fisher has a reputation for being one of the Fed's toughest inflation fighters, it marked the second such warning by a central bank official in recent days. Fed member Kevin Warsh on Friday said the central bank will need to move swiftly when the time comes to raise rates.

Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and also a hawk against inflation, waded into the debate in a speech Tuesday in Easton, Pa., saying the Fed may need to act "well before" unemployment -- now at a 26-year high of 9.7 percent -- returns to normal. The Fed, he said, will need to be on guard "to prevent the Second Great Inflation."

It's all part of a high-wire act that the Fed has to perform as the economy transitions from recession to recovery.

If the Fed raises rates and reels in the unprecedented support too soon, it could short-circuit the rebound. If the central bank waits too long to rein in its stimulus, inflation could be unleashed.

"The wind-down process needs to begin as soon as there are convincing signs that economic growth is gaining traction and that the lending capacity of the banking system is capable of expansion," according to excerpts of a speech Fisher delivered in Dallas. That also was similar to Warsh's comments last week.

Some investors found Warsh's comments confusing, especially coming just two days after the Fed decided to hold its key bank lending rate at a record low near zero and pledged to keep it there for an "extended period." Most economists read that to mean the Fed would keep rates at super-low levels through this year and into part of 2010.

Warsh's comments led some investors to believe that rate increases could come sooner. The last time the Fed raised rates was in June 2006, around the time that the housing bubble reached its peak.

The notion that central banks should act forcefully -- versus gradually -- in raising rates after a financial crisis was a subject of discussion at a Fed conference in Wyoming in August.

When the decision is made to boost rates, they will need to be "increased aggressively," argued Carl Walsh, a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an expert on monetary policy. "Committing to a gradual increase in the policy rate is not justified."

Consumers, businesses and investors must feel more confident that prices won't spiral higher in the future, so their inflation expectations don't become "unanchored," Walsh said last month.

On other matters, Fisher said Tuesday that despite some signs of improvement, the housing market is "still on life support."

The Fed last week announced it was slowing down a program intended to lower mortgage rates and aid the housing sector. "The market for housing will not become truly robust until market forces replace the prostheses of government support," Fisher said.

Still, home prices rose for the third straight month in July. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities rose 1.2 percent from June. Though 13.3 percent below July a year ago, the annual price declines have slowed in all 20 cities for the sixth straight month, according to data released Tuesday.

Quote of the Day

The genius and foresight of our founding fathers cannot be overstated. Check out this quote from Thomas Jefferson on the dangers of a central banking system:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

-Thomas Jefferson